Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

What am I hungry to find in my queries, you ask? Creepy, psychological (not gory) horror, MG or YA. Give me something strange with a gradual, gripping sense of unease -- make my spine shiver! #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips
Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

I'm esp looking for bks that center marginalized voices & are intersectional. I don't see enough religious diversity. I’m fascinated by ritual & faith; how these intertwine to create belief. What does belief feel like? What's it like to want to believe, but find you can't? #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

As I said, open to all genres, but some I particularly love are fantasy and mystery. Humor is frequently a key element of the books I fall in love with. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

Voice and world-building are also important. I think voice and character are really connected -- if you really know who you're writing about, their voice is probably distinctive as well. And I want to be swept into a singular, immersive world/place. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips
Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

Howdy, writers! Here's your reminder of our upcoming #AskUpstart session, 11/7 at Noon EST. And, in preparation for that, a note about the kind of manuscripts I'm hungry to see. First, MG and YA is where my head is these days. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips
Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

It’s just a week until Halloween and I’m in the mood to read something spooooky! If you’re writing a heart-stopping horror story for MG or YA, I’d love to see it. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

I love how a funny book can operate in a kid's world. They're a pleasure to read - score one for reading. Plus, if I (the grown-up) get the joke, and the kid also gets the joke, that's a way of saying, hey, you're pretty smart, kid. Score many, many more for reading. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

I'm in awe of truly funny writing. It's harder than it seems, and I love seeing it work on the page. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

Susan Hawk @susanhawk

So, time for another #MSWL, in the run-up to tomorrow's #askUpstart session. HUMOR, people! I love books that make me laugh, in every category; PB, CB, MG, YA. Here's a couple reasons why:

Life is messy, and nothing is colored in the lines. It's often in a dark moment that things feel funniest. I like books that capture the messy complexity of life, including how humor crops up. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

So, time for another #MSWL, in the run-up to tomorrow's #askUpstart session. HUMOR, people! I love books that make me laugh, in every category; PB, CB, MG, YA. Here's a couple reasons why:

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

Here's my #MSWL for today: If you’re writing the book that YOU want to read – you’re my kind of writer. Query me! #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips
Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

Susan Hawk @susanhawk

It's also time for more #MSWL! Generally, I rep all categories of children's and YA books, both fiction and nonfiction. At the moment I'm most hungry for MG and YA fiction.

I'm looking for fiction for kids and teens that relates to issues happening in our world right now: the refugee crisis, the opioid epidemic, the Flint, MI water crisis. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

It's also time for more #MSWL! Generally, I rep all categories of children's and YA books, both fiction and nonfiction. At the moment I'm most hungry for MG and YA fiction.

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

I love ambitious, literary YA, and would especially like one that's lushly, unabashedly romantic. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

Stories that are piercingly true to their characters, revealing their layers and deepest feelings -- this goes for every category of children's and YA books. #MSWL

Susan Hawk
@susanhawk
Literary Agent
Children's and YA Book Agent at Upstart Crow Literary. Excited to read your query!
120 MSWL
26 AskAgent
3 Tips

In advance of our #AskUpstart session 8/7, I promised a few new #MSWL notes. I’m looking for “Activist Non-Fiction” (shout-out to @_GinaGagliano!), NF that explores a current issue, engages readers deeply, and calls them to action. YA, MG & Graphic Novels like this – all welcome!